X3100 Virtual RAM

I'm thinking about buying a laptop with GMA X3100 and 4GB of RAM but plan on running Windows XP 32-bit. In that configuration windows will only take ~3GB of RAM. Can the X3100 use the extra RAM not being used by windows instead of cutting into windows allocated RAM?

The reason being that I NEED to use 32-bit and I was thinking of getting a laptop with integrated graphics. That way I would have 3GB of RAM and some of the unused RAM can be used by the video card?

Do think you think that this is possible? I have a few guesses. If the virtual RAM is allocated in BIOS it would be reasonable to assume that window's amount wouldn't be affected. That's not for certain though.

Does anyone know the answer?

 

I don't think it works like that, but I may be wrong.

If your getting a system that has the options for 4gb of ram, it will more than likely have the option for a really really nice video card, in which case I would highly recommend over integrated.... Even 2gb ram + awesome video card is better than 4gb of ram + integrated video.

 

I guess the 1GB not used by either Windows or the X3100 will be wasted.
My thinking is : Since Windows XP 32bit can interface with 3GB ^^ (from your post), the 1GB will not be recongnised. And X3100 uses the drivers in Windows to interface with the memory used by Windows, so X3100 should be sharing the 3GB with Windows, with the amount you set.

(Guys this might be a very wild guess, don't flame me )

 

Yes you are right. The shared memory is just normal memory reserved for the GPU. It uses the same OS, in this case Windows 32bit, memory management which is limited to 3Gb (I think 3.25GB is the right number).